with the Oaxaca Collective carpeta in the background
Tanya Rich discovered (on Facebook) that the Oaxaca Collective (Carpeta Nacional de Estampa en Mexico) was on display at Urge Pallete art supply shop, so we made a detour through Riverside on our way to Los Angeles. We were pleasantly surprised to find Pavel Acevedo there when we walked in.
"Untitled"
"Vincent"
We did not meet Pavel during our trip to Oaxaca last December, but we had seen his artwork down there. Nidia Rosales Moreno runs the Espacio Centro in Oaxaca, with Pavel's help.
***
Then we continued on, to the Vincent Price Art Museum, on the campus of East Los Angeles College, to see the Estampas de la Raza print show. Very impressive!
Estampas de la Raza print show,
at the Vincent Prince Art Museum
in Los Angeles
I missed the Estampas de la Raza show when it was in Albuquerque, but bought the catalog while passing through Santa Fe. I could not believe how much better the prints looked person, than they did in the catalog! The color was more lively; many of the prints were huge. They were well framed and exceptionally displayed. We were humbled and very inspired by this exhibition.
Later we discovered the Avenue 50 Studio art gallery, where the walls were covered by famous Chicano artists (such as those covered in the book Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Work, Culture, and Education). That was a big thrill! Daniel Gonzalez has a studio around the corner.
Then we went to the opening at SPARC in LA -- Marietta Bernstorff's "New Codex -- Immigration and Cultural Memory" -- and enjoyed the exhibit, including the new graphic mural on the outside, by the Oaxacan art collective "La Pistola."
***
Later we discovered the Avenue 50 Studio art gallery, where the walls were covered by famous Chicano artists (such as those covered in the book Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art: Artists, Work, Culture, and Education). That was a big thrill! Daniel Gonzalez has a studio around the corner.
Gallery and artspace,
in Highland Park, LA
***
Then we went to the opening at SPARC in LA -- Marietta Bernstorff's "New Codex -- Immigration and Cultural Memory" -- and enjoyed the exhibit, including the new graphic mural on the outside, by the Oaxacan art collective "La Pistola."
"La Pistola" art collective from Oaxaca,
stenciled a mural on the SPARC building,
in Venice, Califas
***
In addition to the above, we checked out ChimMaya Gallery, Coagula Curatorial Gallery, works by the late Chris Burden at LACMA, the downtown MOCAs, and enjoyed some rooftop music at the Perch.
***
On the way out of town, Memorial Day morning, we slipped through LA's gritty downtown Arts District, to see the recent El Mac mural.
on the American Hotel,
in downtown LA's Arts District
by French artist,
in the LA Arts District
Damon Martin's mural,
of Ai Wei Wei,
on the District Gallery,
We stalked LA in part, because one day we would like to do a YayBig Southwest pop-up gallery in Los Angeles (perhaps the downtown ArtWalk). But also to collect prints and find inspiration (and even do a little life drawing). We may get prints made at Modern Multiples. LA is only a day's drive from Tucson, so we need to take advantage of this world art center.
In our broadest definition, the Southwest reaches all the way to the Bay Area. Next week our YayBig Print Exchange opens at TANA, outside of Sacramento.
While the YayBig Gallery no longer exists, the Southwest print collection continues to snowball, leading to the next big project. We have commissioned 29 artists to make big prints, 22 x 30", in editions of fifty. The working title is the "Desert Triangle Print Carpeta" (Tucson, El Paso, and Albuquerque being roughly the vertices of this triangle, in flyover territory). The main objective is to exhibit, both in and out of the Southwest, to fire up our artists to make more prints! We hope to start exhibiting this print carpeta this September.
